Nick Faldo on Tiger Woods

Tiger's lost. He's in trouble. The biggest giveaway, for me, was that Tiger didn’t want to tee it up at the Greensboro’ and try and qualify for the FedEx series. Ernie Els did, out of sheer pride. He played and scraped through. Tiger didn’t want to play. That’s the biggest indication. We don’t know why because Tiger holds all his cards close to his chest. So we have to assume: his swing is off, he’s not happy with that and it’s not performing. The driver is really off, and now the putting is off, which hurts. Irons, not bad. But he can’t make a score like he used to.

How much is he enjoying the game? Not a lot on the evidence of the limited appearances he has made lately. I hear a lot of rumours and there’s clearly an awful lot going on off the golf course. The business world has collapsed, all sorts of speculation here and there about Tiger’s wealth and one thing we do know is that while there’s less money coming in, there’s still an awful lot going out.

The bottom line is he has had to change his life and his lifestyle. And he went from the winning formula – whatever that was – to a different set of circumstances that are not producing results on the golf course. That’s what we see. I know, mentally, how much all of these distractions off the course affects you. People will say, ‘Oh, come and tee it up, play one week, and forget about things for a while…’. Doesn’t work like that. This man globally humiliated himself, and golf is a game where there is always a camera in your face. He is being talked about behind his back. That’s a tough thing to handle. Tiger’s a sensitive man. It may take a while until he feels comfortable back out on the course.

The other big factor is that the aura has gone. He was so dominant that as soon as his name appeared on a leaderboard, everybody talked about it, thought it. Players gave up energy to Tiger. Whether you liked it or not, that was happening. Now, guys are saying, ‘Hey, look at his swing, what is he doing!’. He has so much to deal with. They know it’s not the same Tiger. So they don’t waste energy on worrying about him and instead they focus on what they are doing.

The other thing is they are not coming at him one at a time now. They are coming at him a dozen at a time. The most revealing week was at the Masters this year. Tiger gets it going and makes it to 10 under on Sunday, he stays there and, whoosh, a handful of guys go past him. That was interesting. The other thing now is that Tiger is starting to think, ‘How do I win?’ He had a chance at the Masters, now he’s asking himself ‘Is my game good enough to get in to contention on Sunday?’ Like all of us, there are moments when you get pushed through the wringer. On the back nine, something’s going to happen. Almost like re-learning to win again. Do you think he’ll come through it?

I think he’s determined and you’ve got to say yes, but he’s going to have to be so respectful of the guys around him now. There are no forgone conclusions any more. His next win – which will more than likely be a regular win – will be monumental for him. He won’t say so publicly, but it could be the greatest win of his life. For the first time in his life it’s not easy, not like rolling off a log, like he always did. Now he’s going to know that’s what it takes to win. He will grind. Not holing impossible putts on the back nine, bang, bang, bang, three shots clear. Now he misses putts, like everyone does. It’s harder.

The thing with Tiger, he could always make things happen – now he can’t make anything happen. That clear thinking, 100% self-belief is gone. I had it for a while, you have absolute self belief in your ability... people think you’re arrogant and so on, but you are just totally focused. Now that belief is flawed. It’s like the Augusta syndrome. If you stand there and start talking about where not to hit it you are on the slippery slope out of contention, because you don’t have the clarity and self belief to think only of the positives. It falls to 97%, then 92% and so it goes...you don’t have the freedom to commit to shots 100%.

Tiger must be damaged in that respect. He cannot quite face the shots the way he did. He would stare them down and will them. He hits shots now you can’t believe. It’s all about concentration. It's blissful for a golfer – I used to love it – go to the club and hit bags of balls, not worrying about anything other than your own golf. Now that is shattered. He cannot go to the range and start thinking clearly and giving his game anything like the concentration he used to give it. He has lost that wonderful clarity and so he is going to have to dig deep. Can he come back? Yes, but it’s not simple any more.

As for winning more majors, there are suddenly a lot of really good players out there. The guys have really moved on. With my job for TV in America, I like to go through a starting sheet and highlight the names of players who, if they were actually on their game that week, could win. I had 40 guys highlighted at Augusta and again at the USPGA. That’s the way golf is right now. Forget this talk of will Tiger win five more to beat Jack – who in the world right now is going to win three majors?

I’d have to include Rory [McIlroy] in there and I have great respect for Jason Day, that kid has got something. Adam Scott is another, but three majors is all of a sudden a big total. Phil Mickelson has four, Ernie has three – both great careers. Tiger swamped them at the wrong time. Who will dominate the game? I don't think anyone will again.